Today's most successful companies understand and practice enterprise application
integration through innovative approaches and techniques. A composite story,
drawing from experiences applying Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP)
software with companies in the employment services sector, provides an example
of how such companies can apply integration modeling techniques to ERP objectives.

The packaged software that is provided by ERP vendors such as PeopleSoft, SAP,
JD Edwards, and Baan delivers improved enterprise application integration by
offering an integrated suite of applications to perform standard business functions.
Back-end functions such as accounting, inventory, and shipping are supported,
as well as front-end functions such as call center and sales force automation.
ERP packages are used in conjunction with business process reengineering techniques
to upgrade big chunks of a company's supporting systems.

Companies undertake ERP implementations when they need to integrate multiple
systems quickly. Sometimes business competition forces companies to undertake
ERP initiatives, when competitors, due to tight integration of their own systems,
can offer more desirable services and product features. At other times, technological
advances require that a company upgrade all its systems to keep up with new
opportunities. Yet another reason companies install ERP systems is when outsourcing
initiatives have failed and they want to reinstate their own information technology
systems support. When bringing this function back inside a company is a good
time to overhaul the systems and make sure they're integrated and maintainable.

Background

The new Chief Information Officer's charter was to replace obsolete computer
systems with current packaged systems, providing a competitive advantage through
technology. This meant using advanced systems to bring more resources to market
(that is, filling jobs faster with their temporary employees), while at the
same time slashing prices by reducing operating margins. The goal was to implement
improved business processes by configuring and installing packaged ERP systems
according to the results of an enterprise-wide reengineering effort.

The sales and service delivery team would be able to fill jobs faster with
temporary employees by using sales support applications that were configured
based on best practices identified and propagated throughout the organization's
distribution network. New business acquisition and retention of existing customers
would be enhanced through customer management software and customer information
reporting.

The field offices would be able to reduce operating margins by using packaged
applications that support field office functions, such as billing, payroll,
time accounting, and collections. The definition of core business processes,
flow of activities, and decision support needs would ensure the proper configuration
of the packaged software to take advantage of reengineered processes with the
latest technologies.

The pre-integrated nature of the ERP-packaged software would provide a new
baseline for all the company's systems, including those that would not be involved
in the initial installation. These included isolated systems without integration
requirements, systems that were not included in the available ERP functions,
and unique in-house applications and customized applications. Systems would
be converted into the new order on a scheduled basis, and new development would
target the standards established by the ERP implementation. As all applications
migrated into the new systems environment, integration would increase and the
company would begin to develop sophisticated knowledge management at the corporate
level to be used for decision-making.

The CIO's main problem was the seemingly insurmountable gap between what he
knew (the fragmented puzzle of the company's current systems) and what he needed
to know (business requirements for the new systems). He had very little information
about how the existing systems were actually being used to conduct business.
His technical managers, field managers, and the headquarters staff that supported
them all wanted the package installation to succeed. All held a piece of the
information needed to make it a success, but none could see the whole picture.
Without the crucial understanding of the use of current systems as a basis for
defining future business requirements, the implementation project risked missing
the mark.